Foundations of Creative Wellbeing

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This review was written by Lisa Toffoletti with course access provided by Carla va Laar, as part of the Mixed Media Art Design Team 2022.

Foundations of Creative Wellbeing is an online course developed by Creative Arts Therapist, Dr Carla van Laar. The course is a hands-on experiential journey with videos that guide you through 15 mindful creative activities designed to help you access and cultivate your own creativity for self-care and wellbeing.
 
Carla draws on her Doctoral research to engage you in arts-based processes and creative reflective journaling as you:

  • practice paying attention to the here and now through relaxation, breath and your senses
  • tune in to your environment and create spaces that support your wellness
  • use arts-based activities to make conscious choices that illuminate your personal values
  • connect with parts of yourself that want to be nurtured and developed through creativity
  • find out how sharing your creative works with others can deepen and strengthen relationship
  • understand the big picture of your life and imagine your way to creative wellbeing.

Course review by Lisa

I have just undertaken the online course Foundations of Creative Wellbeing with Dr Carla Van Laar, a course that is guided but allows freedom to express your creative thoughts through mixed media using mindfulness activities. I found the course to be a positive personal creative journey – one I really enjoyed.

The course is made up of a range of activities split into 5 modules. Each activity provides an opportunity to create and includes writing a reflective journal entry. I am a visual and tactile learner. Each activity was different, engaging and well presented with a clear description of what was required.

To begin give yourself time to undertake the course, it involves meditation exercises, getting outside and creating artwork. Throughout the creative journey I used a sketchbook with medium weight paper (decide if you want to do your journaling entries in a separate book or in the sketchbook), a grey lead pencil, my phone, water colour pencils, coloured pencils, paint, ephemera, gel medium, inks and fine liners. The course is designed so that you can use any medium you’re comfortable with.

The website is easy to navigate the course. After each video it marks the activity as complete, when you log back in you can pick up where you left off.

The course modules are designed to progress through from one to five. The activities are to be done from your own personal creative expression. I took the approach to be guided through and craft along with the lessons but you can easily watch the lesson then do the activity however the reflective journal entries are essential, even if you make a few notes, because it’s used in an activity later.

The highlights of the course for me were connecting with your inner creativity and bringing it out onto paper. It was at times challenging yet rewarding; the meditation brought a sense of calm, drawing your breath on a paper was an unusual but interesting activity. Viewing and responding to a piece of artwork was my favourite activity and an activity to use a box as a metaphor for ourselves, initially was challenging to find things for the box but once I started sorting through my magazines and ephemera the task was a lot of fun.

There is no correct or incorrect in this course, it’s a personal creative journey to explore how you feel and what inspires you as a person and for that, getting to the end and having completed each activity has given me another place to draw my inspiration from when I craft.

I would recommend the course for crafters looking for inspiration and for anyone who wants to reflect on their life to gain a more informed perspective of where they are in life. There is freedom to create your thoughts using your desired medium and engage in mindfulness exercises, it’s flexible and inviting.

Thank you Dr Carla – it was a creative journey indeed.

For more information and to sign up – click here: Foundations of Creative Wellbeing

Lisa Toffoletti has always dedicated a space in her life for art and craft, from a child making greeting cards using pressed flowers to art in many forms including small papercraft projects, scrap booking and card making, to create things that have a purpose and are useful.

Lisa is married with three children, whilst raising the children as a stay-at home-mum she worked for the family upholstery business and lives in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne. She many other interests and hobbies including gardening, reading, photography, tracing her family tree and spending time with family.
To view Lisa’s creations, log onto Facebook at Handmade Greeting cards by Lisa T

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Book Review: Creative Girl – Mixed Media Techniques for an Artful Life

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This article is written by  Teresa Abajo

Hello! Teresa Abajo here and I will be reviewing Danielle Donaldson’s book Creative Girl – Mixed Media Techniques for an Artful Life. It was published in 2015 by North Light Books, who bring us a number of other wonderful art related titles.

book review

Danielle Donaldson is a graphic designer and has focused her artistic efforts on watercolour and graphite drawing techniques. Her work is wonderfully colourful, with lots of details she adds with pencils and markers.
The introduction invites us to discover our very own creative happy place by organising our time, personalising the process, creating stashes and sorting supplies. Throughout the book, the emphasis is on staying active creatively – never on productivity or creating to a particular standard.

We start (as many art books do) with a list of all of the supplies Danielle uses to create. I’m happy to say there aren’t too many specialised materials required. In fact, you’ll likely find you already own most items, or can substitute with the brand you already use. There are many household items she uses too – things like glass jars, salt, pins and old books.

book review

In the first chapter, Danielle talks about where much of her crafting takes place – on her couch surrounded by distractions I for one would find too much to bear! She puts together handy little stash stations containing creative tools and materials and she indulges in small snippets of creative time throughout the day. Again, the emphasis is on crafting often, rather than crafting for long periods of time. I found I could very much relate to that – I certainly find it easier to steal moments from my day rather that schedule a huge block of time for crafting. Organisation is key, and Danielle explains how she uses and collates Inspiration Folders.

The next couple of chapters focus on watercolour specific techniques and contain lots of ideas for mini projects and art exercises.
In Chapter 5 Danielle covers developing your own signature style – putting ‘you’ into your art work. She walks us through the creation of various girl figures in very simple, well photographed steps. Here’s where I am with these lessons:

book review

The next part of the book gives us lots of examples of “hot mess solutions” or how Danielle fixes components of her work with which she isn’t happy. Cover ups, work arounds, walk aways, let it go – simple self explanatory terminology.
The last part of the book has a beautiful gallery of Danielle’s work. Now that I’ve read her book I feel inspired to deconstruct a piece and have a go at replicating the components that appeal to me.

Creative Girl – Mixed Media Techniques for an Artful Life is part drawing and watercolour play manual and part realistic guide for those of use wanting to inject a little more art into our daily lives. It’s a beautifully presented book, written in simple and encouraging language and I’m sure you’ll be as thrilled as I was to add it to your craft library.

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“Knit the sky” by Lea Redmond – Book review

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This article is written by Catriona Laing

Having read many knitting books in the past, I thought I knew what to expect from ‘Knit The Sky’. If I turned to a random page, I would find a photograph of a finished project, and the precise instructions for how I could replicate that same item. This, however, was not the case. You will find very few definite instructions in this book. Instead, Lea Redmond places an emphasis on creativity, spontaneity, and fun, which is often lost in other, stricter, patterns, as well as mindfulness of the world around the reader. Projects include a purse made from several hexagon shapes, to resemble honeycomb, each of which the knitter is only allowed to make after going outside and smelling some flowers, to remind the knitter of a little worker bee, or a throw rug constructed from many small postcard-size sections, each made after visiting a new place.

Lea Redmond knitting book review

The book itself is a beautiful piece of work. Not a single page is without one of Lauren Nassef’s colourful illustrations, complementing the text on that page excellently. Redmond has succeeded in creating a most inspiring book, which any knitter would do well to own. I myself, for a long time, have been very much a slave to the strict instructions of the pattern before me, though I did not realise it at the time. Now, however, I am looking forward to the new things I can create, with this book as my inspiration.

You can learn more about Knit the Sky on the book’s website www.knitthesky.com

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My name is Catriona. I am currently in my third year of a Biomedical Science degree, and hope to one day go on to study medicine and become a doctor. However, I’ve got a long way to go before I get there, so in the mean time I enjoy hobbies such as knitting, crochet, playing far more musical instruments than are good for me, and I’ve even dabbled in cosplaying. But knitting is my favourite. Obviously. I really enjoy finding new and interesting patterns to try out, and my all-time favourite thing is when I find someone who likes receiving knitted objects as much as I like making them.

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Disclosure: This book was provided by R&M West Coast Enterprises for the purpose of review. All opinions are that of the MixedMediaArt team. Some links on this page may be affiliate links and any purchases help to support the ongoing work by MixedMediaArt.
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Using Irresistible Pico Embellisher for your Mixed Media Art Projects

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This article was written by Melanie Statnick

Irresistible Pico Embellisher

I really enjoy working with a new product. When I saw the Imagine Craft irresistible Pico embellisher I wasn’t sure what to expect with its precise tip applicator and the needle that inserts into it. It was foreign and I wanted to try it.

Irresistible Pico Embellisher

As a visual artist I could see numerous ways to add this texture into art pieces. I love to add details into my art and the Pico embellisher tip is perfect for this. On a piece of Bristol paper I drew up a doodle and gave it a go.

Irresistible Pico Embellisher

Irresistible Pico Embellisher

There is allowance for control with the tip the embellisher has, making lines and dots thick or thin depending on the pressure of how you squeeze. I did notice that the embellisher will suck some air creating bubbles on the next release.

Irresistible Pico Embellisher

Irresistible Pico Embellisher

I dabbed the bubble with a napkin and it broke leaving a ring. Another time I wiped it away and it left a mess. Please take care cleaning up any bubbles that may happen. This could have been something that happens with a first time user. I also wanted to try the embellisher freehand. I think it gives the drawing a needle point look.

Irresistible Pico Embellisher

Irresistible Pico Embellisher

Overall I think the irresistible Pico embellisher by imagine craft is an excellent tool for texture and more. With the verity of colors who know what your imagination will create.

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Author bio: Melanie Statnick is a published artist/writer out of North Carolina. Melanie creates art daily from her private studio. Her style is happy and whimsy. Statnick’s artwork can be found in art galleries and shops extensively in NC with international private collections. Learn more about Melanie view her website at: www.melaniestatnickart.com

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Disclosure: These products have been provided by Imagine Crafts  for the purpose of review. All opinions are that of the MixedMediaArt team.

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